Development and publication of this monograph are the result of the joint efforts of Boston Edison Company and the Pilgrim Administrative Technical Committee (PATC). The PATC is an advisory committee established in 1969 to ensure that Pilgrim Station marine studies have the benefit of Qualified scientific and technical advice and are responsive to regulatory agency concerns. The PATC is composed of representatives from the following: Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Massachusetts Division of Water Pollution Control National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA) U. S. Environmental Protection Agency U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Dept. of the Interior) University of Massachusetts Boston Edison Company The PATC formed the Pi 1 grim Stati on Marine Ecology Monograph Subcommi ttee to guide Monograph funding efforts, oversee technical aspects of preparation, consi der editor sel ecti on, advi se the edi tors and authors, and resol ve possi bl e conflicts. Members of the Subcommittee were as follows: W. Leigh Bridges - Mass. Div. Marine Fisheries (Subcommittee Chairman) Robert Lawton - Mass. Div. of Marine Fisheries Joseph Pelczarski - Mass. Office Coastal Zone Management Michael Ross - University of Massachusetts Robert Leger - U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Thomas Horst - Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation Richard Toner - Marine Research, Inc. Robert Anderson - Boston Edison Company Lewis Scotton - Boston Edison Company This publication was made possible by grants from: Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Boston Edison Company Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries U. S.

Ecology of Estuaries represents the most definitive and comprehensive source of reference information available on the human impact on estuarine ecosystems. The volume discusses both acute and insidious pollution problems plaguing these coastal ecotones. It also provides a detailed examination of the deleterious and pervasive effects of human activities on biotic communities and sensitive habitat areas in estuaries. Specific areas covered include organic loading, oil pollution, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, heavy metals, dredging and dredged-spoil disposal, radionuclides, as well as other contaminants and processes. The diverse components of these anthropogenic influences are assembled in an organized framework and presented in a clear and concise style that facilitates their understanding.

The decision to build a nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland resulted in a Iandmark legal decision (Calvert Cliffs Coordinating Committee vs Atomic Energy Commission) and began one ofthe mostintensive long-term studies ever carried out in an American estuarine system. In the pages that follow we describe the major results and findings from studies conducted over more than a decade by scientists from The Academy of Natural Seiences of Philadelphia (ANSP). These studies were designed to assess the potential effects that operation ofthe Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant (CCNPP) might have on the mid-portion of Chesapeake Bay. The approach taken was to study major biotic components of the system over an area and a time period sufficient to allow comparison of conditions between preoperational and operational periods within a sampling locality, and comparisons of conditions at reference sites with those at impact sites afterplant operations began. Elementschosen for detailed study included: species composition and production rates of major primary producers; water chemistry; zooplankton, benthos and finfish abundance and species composition; the abundance and growth rates of commercially important shellfish (clams, oysters and blue crabs); and the colonization sequences of invertebrates on artificial substrates.